Wine mogul Bill Foley, who acquired Nevada distillery Minden Mill (formerly Bentley Heritage Estate) in 2023, has just released Gambit, a new bourbon created by Foley master distiller Chip Tate. In Kentucky, New Riff’s latest is a collaboration with Cincinnati brewer Rhinegeist that spotlights barley, while Hard Truth has a new French oak cask finish. Tennessee-based Chattanooga is out with its Founder’s Anniversary blend, and there's also Full Ryde bourbon from former NFL star Jared Allen, as well as a cognac cask-finished straight rye from Texas blender Kooper's Whiskey.
New Riff Duet American
ABV: 55.6%
SRP: $80
Availability: Limited; Ohio and Kentucky
New Riff has teamed up with Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewing on Duet, an American whiskey that spotlights barley. The new release is made from a mashbill of 57% malted barley, 37% raw barley, and 6% rye, and aged in a combination of virgin American oak, oloroso, and Pedro Ximénez barrels. Once blended, the whiskey spent a brief period in a foeder—an oversized oak barrel, generally 160 gallons or bigger, used for beer maturation—and was then rebarreled into used American oak casks, aging for 6 years in total. Bottles of Duet will be available beginning Friday, April 10, at New Riff’s gift shop in Newport, Kentucky, and at Ohio and Kentucky retailers; pours of the new whiskey will be available exclusively at New Riff’s The Aquifer tasting room and Rhinegeist’s tap room in Cincinnati.
While Duet is unusual in its makeup and maturation, New Riff is no stranger to collaborations; the distillery partnered with Chattanooga Whiskey on The Confluence Project, an exploration of one mashbill made with two unique production processes, last fall, and it’s turned to a number of brands based in the Greater Cincinnati area in years past, including Graeter’s Ice Cream (for a bourbon-infused ice cream) and MadTree Brewing (on a bourbon Highball). Those releases, as with Duet, tend to be limited to the distillery and the surrounding Ohio and Kentucky areas.
Hard Truth Barrel Finish Reserve French Oak Cask Finished Bourbon
ABV: 53.05%
SRP: $70
Availability: Limited
Nashville-based Hard Truth has unveiled this year’s first expression in its Barrel Finish Reserve Series, a French oak finished bourbon. It’s a blend of two high-rye mashbills, distilled using the sweet mash method. The first component is Hard Truth’s core sweet mash bourbon blended with an Indiana bourbon. It was aged in 23 custom-toasted American oak barrels before finishing in French oak barrels sourced from France.
Other releases in the series, which launched in 2023, include a four-cask finished rye, a rich maple brûlée finished rye, and Double Oaked finish. The expression is available at Hard Truth Distillery and select retailers nationwide in the coming weeks.
Chattanooga Founder’s Anniversary Blend (2026 Release)
ABV: 50%
SRP: $60
Availability: Limited
Chattanooga Whiskey’s annual Founder’s Anniversary Blend is here, now in its 5th year. Like previous editions, it features a blend of three whiskeys, each pulled from one of the distillery’s several solera systems. Chattanooga’s signature high-malt Barrel 91 bourbon recipe comprises 45%; 31% is a special house-distilled high-malt version of 1816, the distillery’s original bourbon; and the remaining 24% is pulled from an infinity barrel that holds several non-bourbon recipes, with this year’s mix including a 100% wheat whiskey.
Chattanooga is celebrating the release with an anniversary party at its Experimental Distillery today. Ticket holders can purchase an Anniversary Blend Kit ($100) to make their own Anniversary Blend at home with a 375-ml bottle each of Barrel 91, 1816, and Infinity Barrel, along with blending charts and measuring vessels.
Gambit No. 6 Finished Bourbon
ABV: 46%
SRP: $70
Availability: California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Texas, Washington, and online
Foley Family Wines & Spirits—owner of Minden Mill, Ampersand, and other brands—has unveiled a new bourbon label. Made by master distiller Chip Tate, it’s a 6 year old Kentucky bourbon with a mashbill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley. Tate finished 85% of the blend in French oak chardonnay barrels for 3 months. It was then parceled and finished in oloroso, muscatel, apple brandy, and tokaji barrels for 12-16 months. The other 15% was finished in American oak cabernet sauvignon barrels.
Full Ryde Bourbon (Batch 001-25)
ABV: 61%
SRP: $296
Availability: Limited; online with shipping to 34 states
Retired Pro Football Hall of Fame player Jared Allen has co-founded Full Ryde, a whiskey label that’s blended and bottled by Middle West Spirits in Ohio. The first release is a blend that includes 8 year old MGP bourbon (43% of the blend) and 13 year old cask strength bourbon from an undisclosed Kentucky distillery, which makes up the remaining 57%. Only 228 bottles were produced; each is individually numbered and signed by Allen. Batch 002-25, also a blend of 8 year old MGP and 13 year old Kentucky bourbons, is available on a waitlist now and will be priced at $100.
Koopers Cognac Cask Finished Straight Rye
ABV: 48%
SRP: $80
Availability: 225 bottles, exclusive to Koopers Whiskey tasting room in Ledbetter, Texas beginning 4/11
Texas blender Koopers Whiskey is releasing a single barrel rye finished in cognac casks. The whiskey was distilled in Indiana and aged for 7 years, then shipped to Texas where it was finished in cognac casks for 11 weeks. Koopers’ cognac-finished rye is a seasonal annual release. As with previous years, it’ll be available at the blender’s tasting room in Ledbetter, Texas.
